UPDATE 1-Son of Mexican billionaire Salinas named new TV Azteca CEO

MEXICO CITY Oct 1 (Reuters) - Mexico's TV Azteca
, the country's second-largest broadcaster, on
Thursday named Benjamin Salinas as is its new chief executive
officer, following a challenging year that has hit the company's
share price hard.

Salinas, 32, whose billionaire father Ricardo Salinas
controls the company, replaces Mario San Roman, who has held the
job for more than a decade.

Shares of the company have fallen more than 54 percent this
year, on track for the stock's worst ever annual performance,
according to Reuters data. Rising costs have squeezed margins at
the firm, whose biggest domestic competitor is Televisa.

TV Azteca's stock was up nearly 6 percent in early afternoon
trade after the announcement, to 2.83 pesos per share.

In the first half of this year, earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at TV Azteca fell
by 45 percent compared to the same period in 2014, to 788
million Mexican pesos ($46.58 million).
($1 = 16.9168 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Christine Murray and Miguel Angel Gutierrez;
editing by Dave Graham, Bernard Orr)